NC teacher pay slides against peer states

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) - While North Carolina's public schools have shown improvements in graduation rates and other indicators, teacher pay dropped to among the lowest in the country as the state struggled through the recession.

A report Wednesday to the State Board of Education says teacher pay in North Carolina ranks 46th in the country, above only Mississippi and West Virginia among 12 Southeastern states.

One out of nine teachers earn the lowest salary of about $31,000 because there are few meaningful raises until the fifth year on the job.

The report says public schools have lost more than 4,000 teachers within the first three years of their careers since 2008. Losing newcomers is especially a problem in North Carolina, which has a strategy of coaching up rookies rather than bringing in veteran teachers.

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Would somebody please state, loudly, for the record that not only is teacher pay among the lowest but that it has been frozen for 5 years. This is important for people to realize because a teacher with 5 years of experience is still making what they were making 5 years ago. The pay scale is irrelevant and the case could be made for both false advertising and a breach of contract between the state of North Carolina and it's teachers. Taking the freeze into account along with the rise in prices and it is easy to see why teachers actual pay when placed against the economy is about 22% less than it was 5 years ago in actual purchasing power. Funny thing since both the insurance rates and utility rates were both approved for large increases. I guess we know who greases the wheels of government.